A Hidden Danger

Going Up In Flames

Marco

Two days after returning from the shipment fiasco, Marigold and I were sitting in our bedroom with a doctor, having an appointment for the baby. Marigold was unsure of how far along she was, so we were having a scan done. I couldn't bear the thought of what kind of care she must have been getting when she was gone, so I got the best doctor I could find. I would not allow my child to come into this world without having the best care available.

"Well, it looks like you are around twenty weeks pregnant. The baby is measuring right on track and you seem in great health yourself. I have no doubts Mr. Camilleri that your wife has been taking care of herself and has received good care. Would you like to know the sex of the baby?" the woman asked.

"Yes. I want to know what we are having." I answered.

We hadn't discussed if we wanted to know the sex or not. Marigold was still coming to terms with the fact that she wasn't going anywhere. I knew that the day I informed her that her little biker wasn't coming for her had made her lose hope. In fact, that was the exact reason I had told her. I loved her, but I wanted her spirit broken when it came to thoughts of leaving.

"Congratulations, you are having a boy." The woman answered.

I pulled Marigold's hand in mine and kissed it. I could see the tears in her eyes, and I was sure they were tears of joy.

"Thank you, little flower. I'm so happy."

And I was truly happy. A son would be the perfect heir and would be someone that I could teach everything to. He could also be another person to protect his mother once he was old enough to fight. I would finally be able to get my parents off my back. I wanted to talk more to the doctor but my went off. I pulled it out to find a text from Regina. She had become more of a problem since Marigold was back. She had been making demands that she had no right to.

As I stepped out of the room to remind her of her place, my phone began ringing. This time it was Rico. He knew about the appointment with the doctor, so I knew something had to be wrong for him to be calling.

"What happened?" I said as soon as the call connected.

"The warehouse is on fire. We need to get down there now. Word on the street is that it's the Strakhovs."

"Fuck! I'm on my way." I rushed back into the room. "There's an emergency. I'm calling your mother to come over until I get back!"

I didn't give her a chance to say anything back. I rushed as fast as I could to the warehouse. I didn't know what had started this fight with the Russians, but I knew that I would have to be at my best if we had any hopes of overcoming the fight.

When the car pulls up in front of the warehouse, I was shocked at the flames that were licking up in the air. It looked as if someone had dowsed the place in gasoline and lit a match to the place. My men were running around trying to salvage anything they could while the fire department did their best to put out the flames. Everything we had in our latest shipments was in that warehouse waiting to be shipped out to our distributers.

"What the fuck happened?" I yelled as I came up to Rico.

"We don't know yet but, my guess would be gas and a match. As soon as tIhe fire department gets it out, we can look into it more. I've managed to keep the cops away, so there's at least that." Rico said.

It took the fire department almost two hours to get the fire under control. By that time, my father had also joined us at the warehouse. We were discussing plans to replace the product when the first shot sounded. In the blink of an eye, the man who was standing in front of Rico, reporting what he had found had been shot in the head.

The men started yelling and pulling out their weapons. I crouched down, pulling my father with me, and drew my weapon. Within seconds, there were shots coming from every direction. I couldn't pinpoint where anything was coming from because of the chaos. I yelled for Rico but couldn't see him anywhere.

"Marco, we need to get out of here! This is a trap!" my father yelled.

Everything in me knew he was right, but I couldn't just turn and run while my men were fighting for their lives. I fired off as many shots as I could in the direction of where I thought one of the shooters was. I couldn't tell you if any hit their mark.

"I'm not going to sit around and wait to be killed." My father called out.

I turned to tell him not to move, but as soon as he raised his head just a bit, he was shot and killed. A tortured cry came out of my mouth without me even thinking about it. I crawled myself over to my father and held his head in my arms. He was gone, and it had been instant. How would I ever be able to face my mother? I didn't protect the man who had helped bring me into this world.

I heard more and more screams and yelling. I looked around to see man after man fall to the ground dead. Almost every one of them were one of mine. How had things fallen apart so quickly?

The gunfire had all but stopped when I heard a voice calling out to me.

"Marco. Come out. Come out. Wherever you are."

Sasha Strakhov. The man led the worst criminal family in the United States. My father had dealt with him for years before they finally made peace. I had never once thought that there would be anything to break it. I had done everything in my power to keep things civil with them.

"Come now Marco! You aren't going to hide from me like some child afraid of the boogie man are you?"

I knew I needed to get away before he could find me. If he was willing to come after us like that, he was going to do anything he can to take over the family. Going after someone like he did was a declaration of war.

"I see I'm going to have to convince you. I have your right-hand man, Rico." I took a quick look and saw him standing there with a pistol to Rico's head. I couldn't let him harm Rico.

"I'm here." I said, standing up.

"There you are. I must say you made this easier than taking candy from a baby. It's like you served the keys to your kingdom up on a silver platter," he said, chuckling.

"What is it you want, Sasha? Why start a war out of nowhere?" I gritted out.

"I want it all my friend. And you are going to give it to me."